a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an item of luggage incorporating a collapsed resting support which when erected may be used to support portions of a resting person in a forwards leaning seated position.
b. Related Art
A travelling passenger, for example on an aircraft, may need to sleep during a long journey. In economy class seating accommodation, a person may be forced to sleep sitting almost upright in a seat. The key distinction of such non-horizontal sleeping is that some body elements are required to support each other, wholly or partially. A number of problems result from this. Additional weight stresses are transmitted through joints and musculature, for example, muscles and the spine transmit most of the weight of the head and arms to the upper torso and thence from the upper torso to the lower torso and thighs. Additional contact pressure is created between some body elements and their supporting surfaces due to transmitted weight from adjacent body elements. For example, the lower torso (hips and buttocks) and thighs carry the extra weight of the upper torso, head and arms which is translated into increased contact pressure between them and the supporting seat base.
Prior art solutions to the problem of resting during a journey mostly involve various contortions adopted by the seated traveller to alleviate the stresses and strains, for example: leaning the head, upper torso, and arms against the seat back and head rests in various ways; leaning the head, upper torso, and arms against the seat arms; leaning the head, upper torso and arms on one's own thighs and knees; or leaning the head and/or shoulders and/or arms on the seat in front or some other support standing on the floor spaced in front of a seated individual.
All of these methods involve weight transfer between body elements, caused by counterbalancing the elements of support, for example: upper torso to head; upper torso to arms; upper torso to lower torso, lower torso to seat, etc. This creates associated joint and musculature stresses. Consequently these methods do not provide the benefit of an ideal horizontal sleeping position in which each body portion or element bears only its own weight so that stresses transmitted through joints and musculature are avoided and contact pressure between each body element and its supporting surface (the bed) is minimised.
Patent document WO 2007/071977 A2 therefore discloses a lightweight, portable, personal seated resting support that directly supports of the upper torso (waist to head) of a seated user in a resting position in which weight transfer stresses between body elements are largely eliminated, thereby allowing each body element to support only its own weight. This device therefore eliminates or significantly reduces weight transfer from the upper torso to other body elements such as head, arms, lower torso and thighs.
This prior art resting support device has at least two separate supporting legs, including a rear supporting leg adapted to engage with a seat surface on which the user is seated, and a longer front leg adapted to engage with the floor. These legs can be collapsed against a main supporting section when not in use. The resting support device is also lightweight and sufficiently compact when collapsed so that the device can be incorporated into other useful artefacts of the traveller. For example a suitcase may have a recess in a side in which the collapsed support is stowed, with the external surface of the resting support device when so stowed forming the external surface of that part of the suitcase. This side of the suitcase can then be detached to form the resting support.
While this arrangement is convenient, a number of problems remain. The recess in the side of suitcase diminishes the storage space inside the suitcase, while the addition of the resting support device also adds to the weight of the suitcase. The panel also needs to be secured within the recess by means of a plurality of key operated latches spaced around the periphery of the recess in the suitcase side. This increases the mechanical complexity of the arrangement and can also make it difficult or time-consuming to release the resting support device when needed.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a more convenient resting support device incorporated into an item of luggage.